Tag: Cycle of Prosperity
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Prosperity: Linear Time and Progress
Throughout history, religions have had a cyclical (or at least nonlinear) view of time. Religious ritual was an exercise in honoring and appeasing the cycles of nature established by the gods. Life was an endless succession of cycles. One of the most striking features of the Jewish tradition is the notion of linear time. There…
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Prosperity: Respect for the Individual
We hear much today about the destructiveness of individualism. It no doubt is a significant cultural issue. But only recently has such excessive focus on the individual emerged. Throughout history, individuals were considered subordinate to society or rulers. An individual's existence and liberty were maintained primarily at the pleasure of the societal elite. Elaborate religious…
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Prosperity: Opening Thoughts on Cultural Environment
We have visited five elements within the cycle of prosperity: technology, food supply, human capital, economic growth and wealth, and trade. We have seen how these five interact in mutually reinforcing organic ways to generate prosperity. We have also seen how the environment and natural resources can influence how an economy develops. We turn now…
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Prosperity: Physical Environment
Over the last five posts, we've briefly looked at the five components of what I'm calling the cycle of prosperity: Technology, Food Supply, Human Capital, Economic Growth and Wealth, and Trade. I identified at least thirteen different types of impacts (arrows A through M) on creating economic prosperity. I intend to demonstrate the organic nature…
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Prosperity: Trade
The fifth component in the cycle of prosperity model is trade. The importance of trade in creating prosperity is often not appreciated. Some teachers involve students in a trading game to help them understand trade on a localized level. Imagine a sixth-grade class of thirty students. Each student is randomly given a gift from the…
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Prosperity: Human Capital
Our third component in the cycle of prosperity is human capital. In this context, I define Human capital as the physical, mental, and spiritual wherewithal to conduct economic labor. Arrows B, E, G, and K are the inputs into human capital.Arrow B We noted earlier that people and their environment are the two basic components…
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Prosperity: Food Supply
Today we turn to the food supply component of the cycle of prosperity. At the core of the food supply is crop production. With the exception of what few hunting and gathering methods are still used, most food comes from domesticated crops or animals that feed on crops.Arrow B Historically, food supply has been directly…
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Prosperity: Technology
Technology is the devices and machines used in society, and the practical knowledge society has about its material existence and methodologies for applying technical knowledge. Technology has several important impacts on the cycle of prosperity. Arrow A As Thomas Malthus correctly concluded, food production is critical to achieving prosperity. Domestication of crops and animals is…
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Prosperity: Introduction to the Cycle of Prosperity
Every society, past and present, has an economy. Economies consist of two essential components: People and their environment. Economic questions ultimately come down to a measure of what happens to these two subjects. When I use the term economy in these posts, I refer to society's transforming matter, energy, and information from less useful to…
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Prosperity: “Your Kingdom Come…”
"Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Christians across the continents and the ages have continually prayed these words Jesus taught his disciples. They are central to the life and mission of the Church. But there are two important implications of this prayer. First, these words are an…